In persons with diabetes who take insulin or oral agents, hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) may be a serious event. In some situations, hypoglycemia may lead to loss of cognitive abilities, seizures, stupor or coma. The range of ill effects from hypoglycemia range from embarrassment (losing one's train of thought in a meeting) to more serious outcomes such as auto accidents. For these reasons, detection of hypoglycemia is one of the most important benefits of continuous glucose sensing. Hyperglycemia (elevated blood sugar) may cause problems as well, such as damage to nerves, blood vessels, and organs, and may lead to further serious conditions such as ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar syndrome.
Thus, it would be useful to provide a user with simple and effective mechanisms to monitor the user's historical glucose values to provide information about trends to aid in the user's management and control of glucose levels.